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Sebastian Shaw (Earth-616)
__TOC__ Real Name: Sebastian Hiram Shaw Nicknames: None known Aliases: None known Status Occupation: Chief executive officer and principal shareholder in Shaw Industries, Inc. Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record Identity: Public; however, the general public in unaware of Shaw's criminal activities Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: Leader and Black King of the Hellfire Club and of its secret Inner Circle Base of Operation: Worldwide; the Inner Circle is based at the Hellfire Club mansion in Manhattan Origin Sebastian is a mutant, born with his amazing abilities that developed during puberty. Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Known Relatives: Reverend Hiram Shaw, Sarah Shaw, Obidiah Shaw, Elizabeth Worthington, Cornelius Shaw, Esau Shaw (ancestors); Jacob Shaw, (father, deceased); Lourdes Chantel (fiance, deceased); Shinobi Shaw (son) First Appearance: (voice and shadow figure only) Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #129, (fully seen) Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #130 History Sebastian Shaw's power first manifested shortly after he was accepted to engineering school and his father died, when he was beaten by some rednecks in a bar. He devoted himself to his studies and created Shaw Industries, becoming a billionaire by age 40. Shaw fell in love with a woman named Chantel, and was soon initiated into the Hellfire Club along with Warren Worthington, Jr., Howard Stark and John Braddock. Soon, Shaw rose to the position of Black King, and gathered mutant associates to his side, including Emma Frost and Tessa. Unfortunately, Chantel was soon killed by Sentinels in a battle. Upon discovering that Ned Buckman, the White King of the Inner Circle, was supporting Steven Lang's Project: Armageddon and its Sentinels, he executed a coup, using Emma's telepathy to make Buckman kill his own White Queen and then himself. As the leader of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, Shaw started plans to dominate the world through force, money and power. His connections to top officials of corporations and government, acquired via the Club and through his position as CEO of Shaw Industries, made him a powerful enemy. Ironically, Shaw was for years a major supporter and builder of Sentinels, figuring that it's better to be in control of them than not. This activity brought him into frequent contact with Senator Robert Kelly and H.P. Gyrich, to whom he appeared to be an anti-mutant human bigot. Secretly, however, he continued his plans, some of which have involved Black Air and more recently, an unnamed group of time-manipulators. Shaw was, of course, a key part of the corruption of Phoenix II into Dark Phoenix, as well as the Hellfire Club's battle with the X-Men against Nimrod, during which he was thrown into the upper atmosphere by the future Sentinel, then caught by Harry Leland's power and slammed at phenomenal speed into Nimrod. This effort had the unfortunate result of killing Leland. Months later, Shaw was attacked by his son Shinobi, who phased his hand into his father's chest to induce a coronary. Shaw was supposedly blown up in his Swiss Mountain chalet by a bomb set by his son. However, it's clear that he survived, with a scar on his face crossing his left eye (probably since removed with plastic surgery). Shaw's first move upon recovery from the bomb was to contact the man named Holocaust, who had crossed over from the "Age of Apocalypse." In exchange for a new armored containment suit, Holocaust agreed to help Shaw capture X-Force, which he did with frightful ease. Shaw then had Tessa reprogram X-Force to hunt down Cable, but Cable used his fledgling telepathy to break the conditioning and free his team. Shaw's relationship with Holocaust declined soon after. Shaw's more recent exploits included vying for control of the Elixir Vitae, thought to be a cure for the Legacy Virus, and hunting down X-51, the Machine Man. Then, somehow, Shaw was apparently ousted from his position as Black King by Selene, who installed Blackheart in his place. This arrangement did not last long, as Shaw has since returned to power. He attempted to use Lady Mastermind to control Sage and the team of X-Men who were searching for the Destiny Prophecies. Then, after Professor X was "outed" as a mutant, Shaw apparently returned to his capitalist roots and converted the Hellfire Club into something closer to a real nightclub, in fact a safe haven for mutants regardless of affiliation. Using telepathic dancers, Shaw gleaned secrets from the minds of his patrons, who come in just to have a good decadent time. After a few months, though, Shaw made a play to become the Lord Imperial of the entire Club worldwide, and invited Sage to help him. Sage accepted, but effectively betrayed Shaw when she didn't warn him that Pierce might try to assassinate him. Shaw met with the X-Men, claiming to be somewhat reformed, just before Pierce's attack. He was then wounded by Pierce, but remained strong enough to literally knock Pierce's head off. However, he was too hurt to maintain his Club position and was replaced by Sunspot, whom he had chosen as his Black Rook. After Magneto's rise to world power, Shaw was assigned to be the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. He rarely ventures into the field, but when he does, you know something big has happened. He is most concerned about his top agent Wolverine, who was showing signs of instability, and then jumped off the Helicarrier and joined up with the Human Resistance. Shaw apparently had reformed the Hellfire Club with Cassandra Nova, Emma Frost, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Perfection, but they turned out to be psionic projections. Characteristics Height: 6' 2" Weight: 210 lbs. (95.3 kg) Eyes: Black Hair: Gray Unusual Features: No unusual features Powers Strength Level: Without having absorbed additional energy, Sebastian Shaw possesses the normal strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. However, Shaw can gain superhuman levels of strength by absorbing kinetic energy, and usually takes care to absorb enough in order to keep his strength at a superhuman level throughout his waking hours: for example, upon waking he will punch walls repeatedly in order to build up his reserves of absorbed energy. There is a limit to the amount of physical strength he can achieve, but it as yet remains unknown. Known Powers: Kinetic Energy Absorption: Sebastian Shaw is a mutant with the superhuman ability to absorb kinetic energy and to metabolize it to enhance his own physical strength, speed, and stamina. This makes him extremely difficult to defeat in battle, as every blow struck to him only makes him stronger. Unusual tactics must be used to defeat him, usually by incapacitating him or by attacking him psionically. He absorbs the energy of any blow he is struck by, not just punches, but bullets, and to a less successful degree, electricity and physically based energy beams. Without absorbing energy he is merely a strong ordinary human, but normally Shaw works to keep his strength at a superhuman level. For example, in one instance, he was shown to spend time hitting a wall after waking in order to build up his power reserves. Shaw's abilities can be overloaded by too great an influx of power, like being hit with too many super punches. He can also be defeated if an opponent focuses on simply immobilizing him without striking him with significant force, or if something heavy falls on him, for though he can sap the kinetic falling energy, the weight could still crush him, unless he is strong enough to lift/stop it. The X-Man known as Rogue once defeated Shaw simply by picking him up and throwing him straight up into the sky, effectively removing him from the battlefield. There is an upper limit to the amount of energy that Shaw can absorb and convert: once he was "overloaded" by an electrical energy discharged from the X-Man named Storm, and fell into a temporary coma. However, the exact extent of this limit remains unknown. He has also shown some telepathic ability. *''Kinetic Metabolism: Shaw also can forego sleep if he receives enough kinetic energy. Oftentimes he will have his mercenaries pummel him so that he need not sleep for some time. *Enhanced Durability: Shaw can still be crushed/cut, but cuts are superficial because he saps the blade of all its thrusting/cutting energy. Shaw is adept at not letting enemies realize his power until they have hit him one too many times. Hitting Shaw is often described as "punching a mattress." If properly energized Shaw can lift and hold approximately one hundred times his weight. If bound, he can be punched by a teammate until he is strong enough to break the bonds. He is also adept at taunting foes into attacking. *Enhanced Speed'' *''Enhanced Stamina'' Miscellaneous Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons. O*N*E Danger Rating: Severe Notes * Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne * Sebastian Shaw is one of the 198 mutants to retain his powers after M Day. What's more, his being a mutant has been documented by the O*N*E. However, due to his social and financial standing, he is above the jurisdiction of the O*N*E. Trivia * Recommended Readings * X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga TPB Related Articles * Hellfire Club * White Queen * X-Men * Shinobi Shaw See Also * Character Gallery: * Appearances of * Quotations by External Links * References * ---- Category:Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Bad Characters Category:Public Identity Category:Mutant Characters Category:Male Characters Category:American Category:Black Eyes Category:Grey Hair Category:Hellfire Club members Category:198 Characters